


Night Terrors

by Davechicken



Series: Kylux - Fluff & Angst [151]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 23:18:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9464909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: Not every night is sweet.





	

The taunts ring in his head, over and over. He can’t pick apart the words, can’t distinguish the sounds. He doesn’t need to, because he knows what they will say.

_Worthless boy. Nothing like your parents._

_Ugly boy. No one will love you._

_Stupid boy. Can’t learn._

He hears them as fresh as they ever were in life, and they crush him. Push him further from the others, further into himself. Away from people he can’t tell about the words, because he’s supposed to be a Big Boy. He’s supposed to take it all in his stride and be the Bigger Man. He’s not supposed to feel hurt, and he’s not supposed to cry.

Fingernails in palms. Hair in clumps. Bile in throat.

Kylo sits up, gasping for breath like he’s risen as a bready explosion in the oven of his own memories, or a struggling man clawing for the air above water.

Only… the feeling doesn’t fade as he slams his hand on the bedside nightlight, and he realises… those taunts. They were different, this time. _Stupid hair. Too skinny. Bastard_. 

B– _Kylo_ had never heard _those_ comments. He turns to see the furrowed brow of his lover, and realises - for once - Hux is bleeding out. He’s so tightly wound most of the time that he barely acknowledges these things, and it’s when his defences are down that they come to light.

Carefully, Kylo moves to spoon up behind him. Hux has his back to him, and he’s twitching and whimpering in very, very subdued distress. Kylo strokes over his flank, pushing his nose to his nape.

“Shhh, shhh… it’s okay, I’m here,” he murmurs, rocking him very lightly.  


Hux twitches again, and Kylo tries to rub against his mind. Just gentle touches, feeding reassurance, trying to pull him away from the memories. Not in a jump, but in a gradual easing back. The elastic-snap is never good, and it’s better to help someone ease from one status to the next unless you’re _aiming_ for disorientation. 

Hux’s eyes track below his lids, and Kylo shhs him again, slowly easing their bodies back and forth. He offers a psychic hug, and brings Hux up by degrees.

“Gnfh?”  


“Bad dream,” Kylo says, when Hux sounds like he might understand. “Want to share my dream instead?”  


Okay, so it’s not so much a dream as… it _is not a meditation_ , it’s a visualisation. A joint memory and hope, something to aim for. Hux nods, and Kylo voices the safe space. He describes the colours, the textures, the sounds, the smells. As his words delineate the place, he thinks the image into his head, too. The two of them, in this soft and gentle home from home. Together, stronger, happier.

“Mmmmmffhh ‘lo,” Hux mumbles.  


Kylo kisses his neck, pulling real and invisible blankets around him. At least he’s here to help.


End file.
